Why is there no ACC independent dispute agency?

From: Lee M.

February 28, 2015

Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,

This is an official information request:

Background:

While the Accident Compensation Corporation has an internal complaints process in the form of the ACC Office of the Complaints Investigator, this department of the ACC only deals with complaints made under the ACC Code of Claimants Rights. Therefore the jurisdiction of this office is limited to addressing complaints that fall within a list of eight "claimants rights" detailed in the Code, and which are restricted to what claimants can expect in relation to how the ACC should deal with them.

Question:

ACC claimants very often have complaints that they need to make in relation to breaches of the Accident Compensation Act and other relevant legislation, as well as procedural and administrative matters around ACC claims, decisions and reviews.
Why does the Accident Compensation Corporation not have an independent - external - dispute agency that deals with matters related to ACC processing and administration of claims similar to the Health and Disability Commissioner's office for instance?

From: Lee M.

April 12, 2015

Dear Accident Compensation Corporation,

By law, you ought to have responded to my information request by 27 March 2015. Today is 12 April 2015. Are you refusing to provide me with the requested information and is your silence to be taken as confirmation of this fact?

From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation

August 13, 2015

Please find attached a response to your request under the Official Information Act 1982.

ACC apologises for the delay in responding to this request.

Ngā mihi

Government Services

Disclaimer:

"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."

From: Lee M.

August 13, 2015

Dear Government Services,

RE: WHY IS THERE NO ACC INDEPENDENT DISPUTE AGENCY?

You have "fudged" my Official Information request and I am not satisfied that you have answered it.

You know very well that Fairway Resolution Limited is not a "dispute agency", and that it is instead a purported "independent" mediation/arbitration company with one of its roles being to review ACC's decisions under Part 5 of the Accident Compensation Act.

Fairway Resolution Limited and its reviewers do not have the necessary legal jurisdiction to deal with any matter related to how the ACC processes and administers claims, and the ACC Code of Claimants Rights imposes obligations on ACC in relation to how ACC should deal with claimants, not how ACC should deal with processing and administering claims.

So, the question again is why does the ACC not have an independent - external - dispute agency that deals with matters related to ACC processing and administration of claims similar to the Health and Disability Commissioner's office for instance?

Claimants who have valid complaints about how the ACC processes and administers claims under the ACC Act have no avenue of recourse in N.Z. law and this is wrong. So, I want to know when the ACC plan to do something about this so that claimants who need and want to complain about how their claim has been processed and/or administered have an independent agency to contact.

From: Government Services
Accident Compensation Corporation

December 22, 2015

Please find attached a response to your request under the Official Information Act 1982.

ACC apologises for the delay in responding to this request.

Ngā mihi

Government Services

Disclaimer:

"This message and any attachments may contain confidential and privileged information. If you believe you have received this email in error, please advise us immediately by return email or telephone and then delete this email together with all attachments. If you are not the intended recipient, you are not authorised to use or copy this message or any attachments or disclose the contents to any other person."

From: Lee M.

December 22, 2015

Dear Government Services,

A typical fudged response made by another government office who is hurriedly trying to clear its in-tray before the Christmas/New Year holidays.

Fairway Resolution Limited is not "independent" and only deals with ACC decisions, not complaints that relate to the administration and processing of ACC claims. And while there is the ACC's Office of the Complaints Investigator that dissatisfied claimants can complain to, this department is narrowly focussed in terms of what complaints it can and cannot investigate. Crucially, it too is not an "independent" complaints process.

ACC claimants want, need and deserve a truly independent complaints office that can address all aspects of complaints regarding claims administration and processing.